Research on Catalyst and Reaction Kinetics in Fossil Fuel Refining, Biofuels, Green Hydrogen and Petrochemicals

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 804

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil
Interests: nanoporous silica; hydrothermal synthesis; mechanochemisty; thermal analysis; catalysis; petroleum and petrochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50670-901, PE, Brazil
Interests: modeling and simulation; fossil fuels; petrochemical processes; kinetic modeling; biorefining; catalytic cracking

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the 20th century, especially in the 90s, significant progress was made in refining fossil fuel and in renewable energies. Consequently, many remarkable developments have ensued regarding research on catalysis and kinetics in the oil, biorefineries and petrochemical industries. These efforts were carried out in an attempt to outline the energy and environmental context for the coming decades with the decarbonization of energy carriers, which will govern the trend in industrial processes. However, oil will still remain a principal source of liquid fuels and petrochemicals for a long time, whereas biofuels and green hydrogen will be destined to play an important role as energy carriers. Within this framework, studies in kinetics and catalysis will be crucial concerning the technical, energetic and economic development of fossil fuels—jointly with biofuels, petrochemicals and green hydrogen—in the foreseeable future.

In this context, this Special Issue proposal of Processes, titled “Research on Catalyst and Reaction Kinetics in Fossil Fuel Refining, Biofuels, Green Hydrogen and Petrochemicals”, seeks high-quality works focusing on new trends and progress for obtaining petrochemicals, as well as fossil and renewable fuels, in a sustainable and economic way whilst considering the general aspects in kinetics for catalytic applications. Topics include the following: fundamentals of kinetics and catalysis for the development of refining and petrochemical industries; processes for aromatization, alkylation and bifunctional catalysis; catalyst deactivation and regeneration; fluid catalytic cracking; hydrocracking; hydrotreating; and catalytic distillation. In addition of these topics, research on the catalysis and kinetics of biofuels; green hydrogen; and catalytic recycling of polymers and biomass will be considered. 

Prof. Dr. Antonio S. Araujo
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Florival R. Carvalho
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • kinetics and catalysis for oil refining
  • model-free kinetics
  • petrochemistry
  • fluid catalytic cracking
  • hydrocracking processes
  • hydrotreating processes: HDS, HDN, HDS, and HDO
  • catalyst deactivation and regeneration
  • biofuels and biorefinery
  • catalytic recycling of polymers and biomass
  • green hydrogen

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 5662 KiB  
Article
Characterization of the Lower Limit of CH4 Explosion in Different Atmospheres over a Wide Temperature Range
by Jida Zhang, Qinghe Bao, Junhui Yang, Haibin Guan, Zhongcheng Ma, Bari Wulan and Sheng Li
Processes 2025, 13(5), 1608; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051608 - 21 May 2025
Viewed by 153
Abstract
This study conducted systematic experimental research on methane safety issues in industrial production environments, with a particular focus on the impacts of high-temperature conditions and complex atmospheres on methane explosion characteristics. The research team designed and constructed a dedicated combustible gas explosion experimental [...] Read more.
This study conducted systematic experimental research on methane safety issues in industrial production environments, with a particular focus on the impacts of high-temperature conditions and complex atmospheres on methane explosion characteristics. The research team designed and constructed a dedicated combustible gas explosion experimental setup, performing in-depth experimental analyses across a broad temperature range from 25 °C to 600 °C. The results demonstrate that elevated temperatures significantly reduced the methane’s lower explosion limit (LEL), with the LEL decreasing to approximately 40% of its room-temperature value at 600 °C. The investigation systematically examined the influence mechanisms of common industrial atmospheric components, including carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3), oxygen (O2), and water vapor (H2O) on methane explosion behavior. Key findings reveal that CO2 exhibited notable suppression effects, increasing methane’s LEL by approximately 15% per 10% increment in CO2 concentration. NH3 demonstrated dual mechanisms, promoting methane explosions at low concentrations (<5%) while inhibiting them at higher concentrations. Increased O2 concentration significantly expanded the methane’s explosive range, with the LEL decreasing by about 22% when O2 concentration increased from 21% to 30%. Water vapor manifested differentiated impacts depending on temperature regimes, primarily elevating LEL through dilution effects below 200 °C while reducing LEL via radical reaction promotion above 400 °C. Furthermore, this study reveals synergistic coupling effects between temperature and gas components—for instance, CO2’s suppression efficacy weakened under high temperatures, whereas NH3’s promotion effect intensified. These discoveries provide scientific foundations for formulating industrial safety standards, designing explosion-proof equipment, and conducting risk assessments in production processes. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop